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Bangkok; a Shangri-la among World Cities

Guardian Figure at Wat in Bangkok; Scary eh.

Claire: With so many temples and shrines around Bangkok, a poor tourist can’t go wrong visiting any one of them–they’re all beautiful. The best part is that the less famous of them still stand apart from the hustle-bustle of the city and provide a welcome relief of quiet and reflection without the crowds to interfere. Morning is a good time to observe Thai acts of generosity and devotion. Put down the camera, pocket the map, forget the time and just take it all in.

Golden Stupa

Bob: This is the second long tour we have ended with a stay in Bangkok. After 11 months cycling around Australia, we spent 10 days here, and this time we cycled from China and will spend eight days here before flying out on Christmas Day.

It’s very easy to lose a week in Bangkok. It is more Western than it was when we were here last nearly 10 years ago, but still exotic, still endearing in so many ways. The people are beautiful, the traffic reasonable, compared to China, and the food, the food, heavenly, and inexpensive. Oh, the weather is not bad either, after you become accustomed to sunshine and 90f.

The air quality has improved, or perhaps it is the season, with reliable winds each afternoon; there are fewer motorcycles and more cars, a bad thing, but the motos and tuk tuks are now mostly four-stroke and cleaner.

Bangkok is a great city for your first taste of Asia. Among large cities of the world, it is a Shangri-la.

Hi, Good to hear from you. Are you back in Big Bend? We have no plans to come back, but we always end up there every few years. We’re taking the motorhome to Alaska this summer to do some sea kayaking; we’ve never been there. One of our posts from the Big Bend area about a fence along the river, has prompted many visits to New Bohemians. We did about 125 over the last four months from Tibet to Bangkok. We hope to see you at Far Horizons someday. We fly back there Christmas Day.